Texas Topaz Nonfiction List for Adults

Here are some recommendations for adults from the 2026 Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List! The purpose of the Texas Topaz Reading List is to provide children, teens, and adults with recommended nonfiction titles that stimulate reading for pleasure and personal learning. Visit txla.org/reading-lists for the full list and lists from previous years.


Updated January 13, 2026
Lewisville Public Library
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Whack job : a history of axe murder
James, Rachel McCarthy
Paper Book
A brilliant and bloody examination of the axe's foundational role in human history, from prehistoric violence, to war and executions, to newspaper headlines and popular culture. For as long as the axe has been in our hands, we have used it to kill. Much...
Snafu : the definitive guide to history's greatest screwups
Helms, Ed
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller  From actor, comedian, writer, and host of the hit history podcast SNAFU, Ed Helms brings you an absurdly entertaining look at history's biggest blunders, complete with lively illustrations.       ...
Awake : a memoir
Hatmaker, Jen
Paper Book
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, OPRAH DAILY, GOODREADS, KIRKUS REVIEWS, AND MORE A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "I can't imagine any woman reading this without feeling seen, inspired, and totally empowered." -...
99% perspiration : a new working history of the American way of life
Chandler, Adam
Paper Book
An enlightening and entertaining interrogation of the myth of American self-reliance and the idea of hard work as destiny "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." This phrase, arguably Thomas Edison's most famous quote, has been drilled...
Algospeak : how social media is transforming the future of language
Aleksic, Adam
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From linguist Adam Aleksic, known as @etymologynerd on social media, comes a captivating exploration of how internet algorithms are transforming language and communication in unprecedented ways. "Packed with fascinating facts, of-the-moment...
The art spy : the extraordinary untold tale of WWII resistance hero Rose Valland
Young, Michelle
Paper Book
A riveting and stylish saga set in Paris during World War II, THE ART SPY uncovers how an unlikely heroine infiltrated the Nazi leadership to save the cultural legacy of the West. On August 25, 1944, Rose Valland, a woman of quiet daring, found herself in a desperate position...
Framed : astonishing true stories of wrongful convictions
Grisham, John
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "The master of the legal thriller" (Associated Press) teams up with "the godfather of the innocence movement" (Texas Monthly) to share ten harrowing true stories of wrongful convictions. "Each of these stories is told with astonishing...
Grief is for people
Crosley, Sloane
Paper Book
Named a Best Book of the Year by Vogue, TIME, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Esquire, NPR, Elle, Library Journal, LitHub, Oprah Daily, Publishers Weekly, Chicago Public Library, Kirkus, Bookpage, The Independent, and New Statesman
A marriage at sea : a true story of love, obsession, and shipwreck
Elmhirst, Sophie
Paper Book
THE RUNAWAY NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER & ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2025 A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BOOK OF 2025 ALSO NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2025 BY NPR, VOGUE, TIME MAGAZINE, THE NEW YORKER, AND MORE "This is nonfiction that...
No more tears : the dark secrets of Johnson & Johnson
Harris, Gardiner
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * An explosive, deeply reported exposé of Johnson & Johnson, one of America's oldest and most trusted pharmaceutical companies--from an award-winning investigative journalist "A damning portrait."--Associated Press "A page-turning...
Raising hare : a memoir
Dalton, Chloe
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * FINALIST FOR THE 2025 WOMEN'S PRIZE * A fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, loss, and our relationship with the natural world, explored through the story of one woman's unlikely friendship with a wild hare.
The scientist and the serial killer : the search for Houston's lost boys
Olsen, Lise
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER . The true story of how one dedicated forensic scientist restored the long-lost identities of the teenaged victims of the "Candy Man," one of America's most prolific serial killers "A masterwork of crime writing . . . Lise Olsen has taken a fifty-year-old...
Sociopath : a memoir
Gagne, Patric
Paper Book
The acclaimed New York Times bestselling memoir of the author's struggle to understand her own sociopathy and shed light on the often maligned and misunderstood mental disorder. "A cross between a podcast by relationship therapist Esther Perel and a salacious tell-all."...
Vanishing treasures : a bestiary of extraordinary endangered creatures
Rundell, Katherine
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * NAMED A BEST BOOK OF FALL: WASHINGTON POST, CBS, BOSTON GLOBE, CHICAGO TRIBUNE & MORE * From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Katherine Rundell comes a "rare and magical book" (Bill Bryson) reckoning with the vanishing wonders of our natural...

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